Agenda and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Merrett declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in Executive item 6 (York West Swimming Facilities) as his daughter used Edmund Wilson Pool regularly as a swimmer and as a member of York City Bath Clubs.  He also left the room whilst the Shadow Executive agreed the comments on this item and Councillor Looker took the Chair.

Councillor Fraser declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in Executive items 6 (York West Swimming Facilities) and 7 (Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) – Scheme Changes and Local Discretions) as a retired member of Unison.

Councillor Kind declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in Executive item 7 (Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) – Scheme Changes and Local Discretions) as a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme with another local authority.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Shadow Executive meeting held on 29 November 2006.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Shadow Executive held on 29 November 2006 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Shadow Executive’s remit can do so. The deadline for registering is Tuesday 12 December 2006, at 10.00 am.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The Shadow Executive made the following comments on the Forward Plan at page 5 of the papers circulated for the Executive meeting to be held on 19 December 2006:

The Shadow Executive:

·  May require Officer attendance at the relevant Shadow Executive meeting/s in respect of the following items (current Executive dates in brackets):

o Strategic Procurement Programme (16/1)

oFuture of the Archives (16/1)

oSecond Corporate Performance and Financial Monitor (16/1)

oSecond Capital Monitor (16/1)

oRevenue Budget 2007/08 – 2009/10 (16/1)

oCapital Budget 2007/08 – 2009/10 (16/1)

oInformation Governance Strategy (30/1)

oCorporate Asset Management Plan (30/1)

o Thin Client/Competition Strategy (unknown)

The Shadow Executive made the following comments on the minutes of recent meetings of the Local Development Framework Working Group and the Economic Development Partnership Board at page 7 of the papers circulated for the Executive meeting to be held on 19 December 2006.

The Shadow Executive:

·  Note these minutes.

The Shadow Executive considered a report which was listed as item 6 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 19 December, at page 29.  The report asked the Executive to agree a way forward for either refurbishing or replacing Edmund Wilson swimming pool.

Having discussed the issues set out in the report and questioned officers present at the meeting, the following comments were agreed:

The Shadow Executive:

·  Request that a decision is deferred as there is a lack of full information coming in, especially the views of York City Baths Club, and as information is needed providing a breakdown of views on the west side of York and in the rest of the city.

·  Reiterate their previous view that the consultation exercise, outlined in Annex 2 of the report, was flawed.

RESOLVED:(i) That the Executive be asked to take the above comments into account when considering this item.

(ii)                        That the item not be called in.

The Shadow Executive considered a report which was listed as item 7 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 19 December, at page 45.  The report reviewed the Council’s current arrangements for early retirement and redundancy, in the light of changes to the LGPS and the introduction of age discrimination legislation, and invited the Executive to make recommendations to Council on consequent changes to the Council’s early retirement and redundancy policy.

Having discussed the issues set out in the report, the following comments were agreed:

The Shadow Executive:

·  With regards to recommendation 1, whilst accepting that there is little choice in respect of what is recommended, want to ensure that adequate support is provided for staff who are made redundant in terms of advice and help in achieving employment outside of the Council.

·  With regards to recommendation 3c, are generally concerned about the proposal not to have Member involvement in these appeals, especially in relation to Chief Officers.

·  With regards to recommendation 5, feel strongly that a flexible retirement policy should be adopted, both for the benefit of the Council and of its staff, in the sense of making best use of experience and as a potential recruitment and retention tool.

RESOLVED:(i) That the Executive be asked to take the above comments into account when considering this item.

(ii)                        That the item not be called in.

To receive a presentation on delivering Gershon and strategic savings, including through procurement.

Members received a presentation on delivering Gershon and strategic savings, including through procurement.

The Director of Resources outlined the current position regarding efficiency service improvement, set out what needed to happen next and detailed the key elements of what he was doing in his role as Efficiency Champion.  The Assistant Director (Finance) and Assistant Director (Audit & Risk Management) presented an overview of the proposed Corporate Efficiency and Strategic Procurement Programmes respectively.

Members discussed how to ensure the delivery of efficiency savings and highlighted the need to bring about a culture change in the Council to achieve this.

RESOLVED:             That the presentation be noted.

To receive an update on the Discus Bungalows Project.

Members received an update on the Discus Bungalows Project from the Head of Housing Services and Project Manager.  The update summarised the processes that were being put in place to take the redevelopment forward and outlined the roles and membership of the project team and the project board.

The Chair of the Discus Bungalows Residents’ Association also attended the meeting.  He explained how the Residents’ Association had been created and detailed the training and visits to other cities that had been arranged for committee members.

Members emphasised the need to minimise the number of moves that residents had to make during the redevelopment process.

RESOLVED:             That the update be noted.